Bob Dylan Has Claimed His Nobel Prize, a Mere Six Months After It Was Awarded to Him

The private musician accepted his medal and diploma at an intimate ceremony on April 1.

The legendary folk musician Bob Dylan has finally appeared in person to accept his Nobel, the world’s most prestigious literary prize. It only took him half a year to do so.

According to the Associated Press, Dylan met with members of the Swedish Academy, the institution tasked with awarding the Nobel, at a small gathering this past Saturday afternoon where he was given both his medal and his diploma. The celebration was held at a hotel adjacent to a venue where the musician was scheduled to perform that night. In accordance to Dylan’s wishes, attendees were comprised exclusively of members of the Academy, as well as a single member of Dylan’s entourage.

“It went very well indeed,” said Klas Ostergren, a member of the Swedish Academy, “[he’s] a very nice, kind man.”

Dylan made no mention of the ceremony during his concert later that evening.

The musician stirred up controversy when he was declared the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, besting perennial American favorites such as Don DeLillo, Phillip Roth, Lydia Davis, and John Ashbery. It took nearly a month for the musician to acknowledge his win, yet even still, he declined to the official award ceremony in December citing previous commitments—fellow musician-writer Patti Smith read from a prepared speech on his behalf.

According to the rules of the Academy, the BBC points out, Dylan must deliver a taped version of himself reading from the speech. If he fails to do this by June, Dylan will have to forfeit the $900,000 prize money. Meanwhile, Dylan, whose net worth has been speculated to be around $100 million, on a nearly sold-out stadium tour of Europe, with the cheapest tickets average around 65 euros apiece.